MOSCOW (AP) – A court in Moscow on Saturday dismissed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s appeal against his imprisonment, even as the country faced an order from a European rights court to free the Kremlin’s most prominent enemy.
Prior to the verdict, Navalny urged the Russians to revolt against the Kremlin in a fiery speech mixing references to the Bible and “Harry Potter.”
A lower court earlier this month sentenced Navalny to two years and eight months in prison for breaking the terms of his probation while recovering in Germany from a nerve poisoning he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have rejected the accusation.
Navalny, 44, an anti-corruption crusader and most outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, appealed the jail term and asked for release. The Moscow District Court judge only slightly reduced his sentence to just over 2 1/2 years in prison on Saturday, ruling that a month and a half of Navalny spent under house arrest in early 2015 will be deducted from his sentence.
His arrest and imprisonment sparked a huge wave of protests across Russia. Authorities responded with a large-scale crackdown, detaining about 11,000 people, many of whom were fined or given seven to 15 days in prison.
Prior to the verdict, Navalny referred to both the Bible and “Harry Potter” and the animated sitcom “Rick and Morty” while urging the Russians to resist pressure from the authorities and challenge the Kremlin to adopt a fairer and build more prosperous land.
“It’s the government’s job to scare you and then convince you that you’re alone,” he said. “Our Voldemort in his palace also wants me to feel cut off,” he added, referring to Putin.
“To live is to risk everything,” he continued. “Otherwise, you’re just an inert chunk of randomly assembled molecules floating around wherever the universe blows you.”
Navalny also addressed the judge and prosecutor arguing that they could have a much better life in a new Russia.
“Just imagine how great life would be without lying all the time,” he said. “Imagine how great it would be to work as a judge if no one could call you and give you directions on what decisions to make.”
He insisted that he could not report to the authorities in accordance with his probationary requirements while recovering in Germany after his poisoning, and stressed that he returned to Russia immediately after his health condition.
“I wasn’t hiding,” he said. “The whole world knew where I was.”
Navalny said he was previously an atheist but has come to believe in God, adding that his faith helped him meet his challenges. He said he believed the Bible says those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, and that he felt no remorse when he returned home.
“Although our country is built on injustice and we all face it, we also see that millions of people want justice,” Navalny told the court. “They want justice and sooner or later they will get it.”
When asked about the impact of Navalny’s imprisonment on Russian politics, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the country’s “rich and multifaceted” political scene will develop regardless of the verdict.
Russia has dismissed Western criticism of Navalny’s arrest and crackdown on demonstrations as interference in internal affairs.
In a ruling on Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights ordered the Russian government to release Navalny, citing “the nature and extent of the risk to the applicant’s life.” The Strasbourg court noted that Navalny has disputed the Russian authorities’ argument that they had taken sufficient steps to protect his life and well-being in custody following the nerve gas attack.
The Russian government has rejected the court’s claim in Strasbourg, describing the ruling as unlawful and “unacceptable” interference in Russian affairs.
In the past, Moscow has adhered to the ECHR rulings to grant compensation to Russian citizens who have contested sentences in Russian courts, but it has never had a demand from the European court to release a convicted person.
As a sign of its long-standing annoyance at the verdicts of the Strasbourg court, Russia passed a constitutional amendment last year declaring the priority of national law over international law. The Russian authorities could now use that provision to reject the ECHR ruling.
Later on Saturday, Navalny was also faced with a separate case for defamation from a World War II veteran. Prosecutors have asked the judge to order Navalny to pay a fine of 950,000 rubles (about $ 13,000).
Navalny, who called the 94-year-old veteran and other people seen in a pro-Kremlin video last year “ corrupt front men, ” “ unscrupulous people, ” and “ traitors, ” has dismissed the charges of defamation, describing them as part of official efforts to belittle him.
Navalny said at the hearing that his accusers will “burn in hell.”